First images of Colin Firth’s new film Gambit released

The first pictures from
Colin Firth’s latest film Gambit – in which he stars with
Cameron Diaz – have emerged online.

Colin Firth stars with Cameron Diaz in Gambit, which is a remake of Michael Caine’s 1966 comedy

The film – which will feature the Oscar-winning actor as a charismatic con man – is a remake of the 1966 crime caper which starred Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine.

It stars Firth as Harry Deane, an art dealer who is aiming to con Britain’s richest man – played by Alan Rickman – into buying a fake Monet painting.

Diaz co-stars as his partner in crime, a Texan cowgirl who pretends to be the granddaughter of the man who discovered the painting in World War II. However their carefully laid plans start to go awry when romance blossoms between the pair.

The film co-stars Stanley Tucci and Hollywood veteran Cloris Leachman, and has been scripted by the Oscar-winning duo Joel and Ethan Coen, whose other films include No Country For Old Men and Fargo.

And although it is a remake, the plot has changed from the original.

Colin Firth won an Oscar earlier this year for his role as George VI in The King’s Speech (Picture: EPA)

The 1966 version starred Caine as a cat burglar attempting to pull off the perfect crime by robbing a wealthy man of a highly prized antiquity, with help from an exotic dancer (played by Maclaine).

Firth – who won this year’s Best Actor Oscar for his role as George VI in The King’s Speech – recently revealed that the film would be very different to its 1960s counterpart.

‘I think it’s a highly intelligent crafted piece,’ he said at the Empire Film Awards . ‘I don’t quite understand why it’s been styled as a remake.

‘The original Gambit was a lot of fun, but really this doesn’t resemble it. If you were to change the names of the characters I think you could get away with calling it original.’

The film is due for release some time in 2012 – although Firth fans will have a chance to see him on the big screen before then in the thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy which will be in cinemas in the autumn.